- Major Women’s Health Study Supports Hormone Replacement Therapy in Early Menopause
- Organic Walnuts Tied to Serious E. Coli Illnesses
- More Than Half of Cats on Farm Where Bird Flu Infected Cows Died After Drinking Milk
- Biden Administration Could Reclassify Marijuana as Less Risky Drug
- Americans of Pacific Island Ethnicity Have Up to Triple the Rate of Cancer Deaths
- How Anger Could Raise Your Heart Risks
- EPA Clamps Down on Deadly Toxin Found in Paint Strippers
- Popular Teens (Especially Girls) May Get Less Sleep
- Years Prior to Menopause Are Danger Zone for Depression
- School Entry Rules Boost Kids’ HPV Vaccination Rates
Brain-Imaging Drug Approved for Alzheimer’s Detection
FRIDAY, Oct. 25Vizamyl (flutemetamol F 18 injection) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging of the brain to screen adults for signs of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.
Dementia — characterized by deteriorating memory, judgment, language and motor skills — has been associated with brain accumulation of a protein called beta amyloid. Vizamyl, combined with a PET scan, can help doctors detect this protein, the FDA said Friday in a news release.
Vizamel, the second diagnostic drug approved for this purpose, was evaluated in clinical studies of 761 people. The injected drug is not meant to predict whether a person will go on to develop Alzheimer’s or other types of dementia, or to evaluate how people may respond to dementia therapies, the FDA warned.
Potential side effects of the drug include allergic-like reaction, becoming flushed, headache, a rise in blood pressure, nausea and dizziness, the agency said.
Vizamyl is produced for GE Healthcare by Medi-Physics Inc., based in Arlington Heights, Ill.
More information
The FDA has more about this approval.
Source: HealthDay
Copyright © 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.